Infiorata di Genzano

What happens

Genzano di Roma, in the Alban Hills, has laid an infiorata for Corpus Christi since 1778. The carpet runs the length of the street that climbs to the church of Santa Maria della Cima, about two thousand square metres in a row of large pictures. Petals are picked and sorted by colour in the days before and kept cool in caves under the town. The pictures are laid on Saturday night and Sunday morning. On Monday evening children run down the street and destroy the carpet.

The flowers

Flower carpetGenzano is the best known of the Italian flower carpets.CarnationCarnations supply red, pink and white.Spanish broomSpanish broom, picked wild in the hills for yellow.